The following information may help
answer some of your questions. Should you require further information,
please email the researcher. An answer will be returned to you
promptly via email and an anonymous entry will be added via this
webpage for future reference.

The ethics form and questionnaire can be:
(a) submitted directly from the website
(b) printed out and mailed in (please contact researcher for
address)
for printing out the questionnaire, please use the "printable
form" version for best results.
(c) printed out ("printable
form") and faxed to: 1-604-944-9551
(d) cut and pasted directly into an email message and returned
via email, Please note that email attachments will not be accepted,
due to the potential risk of viruses.

When you review the Ethics Committee forms preceeding the
actual questionnaire, you will see that the Simon Fraser University
of British Columbia has gone to great lengths to assure the ethical,
physical, and psychological safety of any person who participates
in educational research. If you still have questions, please check
this section first, but then feel free to email the researcher
for a prompt reply.

If I send in a questionnaire, will
my name or other personal information be displayed in any way
on this website?
No personal information will be released at any time. This website
has been created to gather information only.

If I send in a questionnaire, will
my name or other personal information be displayed in any way
in the final thesis study?
No, your information is strictly confidential. Only the researcher
has access to the questionnaires and all personal information
will be destroyed at the end of the study.

Will the information that I send be
accessible by anyone other than the researcher and for any reason
other than the stated purposes of this study?
No, your information is strictly for the purposes of this study.
At no time will you ever be contacted or approached by someone
because of information you have provided.

What guarantee do I have that my information
will remain private and secure?
The researcher must act in accordance with the Ethics regulations
set out by Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia.
Please note the required "Informed Consent By Subject"
form which is provided with the Questionnaire itself. Absolutely
no data may be used without full agreement of the participant.

What if I think that one of the questions
is "confidential"?
You are still welcome to send in your questionnaire, leaving out
any dubious questions. The researcher has, however, attempted
to create a series of questions that are NOT invasive. Please
note the disclaimer at the start of the questionnaire: "Online
participantsare
instructed to provide only that information which the school would
not consider confidential and to omit any answers which they feel
would need permission of the school." This disclaimer was
suggested and approved by the SFU Ethics Review Board.

As for the personal interests of the researcher, one might
well ask why I am interested in this area myself. To explain,
I am an elementary generalist teacher in B.C. who was dazzled
by desktop publishing for my weekly newsletter and delved into
website creation to display my love of classroom pets. Following
an unfortunate event, I became the Computer Contact Teacher for
the school, being the only staff member who volunteered. In one
and one-half years I have gone from being a rather non-techie
type person to being the head wiggler-of-plugs for my school.
Now I am looking to see what I can do for my students in the area
of technology and how I can break free from the mistake of thinking
that educational games are all that computers have to offer. The
issue of integration of technology into curriculum is a personal
one. I am struggling to find the answers in my own classroom,
but as well as improving my personal knowledge, I have a responsiblity
to facilitate this same growing awareness in my fellow staff members.

I am committed to exploring the educational use of computers.
I see many examples of how British Columbia teachers are working
towards this same goal... the Daybook, CUEBC, Computer Learning
Specialist Associations, BCTF's committment to the TLETAC "Conditions
for Success" report, WebQuest workshops, the ITCC 25 district
Consortium working towards a lesson plan database. I also see,
however, how these brilliant endeavours are not always making
their way into the generalist teacher's knowledge base. Furthermore,
I see how the generalist teachers, the computer specialists, and
the librarian/information technologists, are all wondering what
"their place" will be in the next 5 year technology
plan. What are we all supposed to be doing? Where are we going?
Why are we traveling the routes we are on? The TLETAC report strongly
recommended that we begin to place a priority on research in our
own communities by our own educators. I hope that this study can
offer its own contributions to some the answers.

There are many different websites offering lesson plans on
how to use technology in your curriculum. Check with your local
District Computer Coordinator for a few places to start. Be sure
to bookmark your favourites right when you first find them, as
you will be surprised at how many are out there and how hard it
is to remember which ones you really liked.

This study was not constructed to give you new ideas (sorry!)
but to find out which ideas you have found the most useful so
far. The links provided here are only to access the Ministry IRPs
and the the information regarding the upcoming new 5 year Technology
Plan. Check back at home page for the Useful
Links webpage to access these sites.